HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommercial Design GuidelinesAPPENDIX II – COMMERCIAL DESIGN GUIDELINES
Contents
1. Purpose and Objectives
2. Building Placement
3. Building Design
a) Massing
b) Materials
c) Windows
d) Entrances
e) Screening of Equipment and Refuse
f) Canopies
g) Exterior Building Lighting
4. Site Design
a) Parking
b) Site Circulation
c) Landscaping
d) Natural Features
e) Site Lighting
5. Signage
6. Applicant Submission Information
a) Drawings, graphics, and narrative
7. Terminology
1. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide greater direction and clarity for applicants, citizens,
town staff, Planning Board, and anyone involved in the Site Plan Review process. The objective
is to improve the design quality of new commercial development projects that go through the
Site Plan Review process, especially in the hamlets and along the Routes 34/96 and 96B
corridors.
It is the Town’s intent to:
a) foster attractive buildings and sites with thoughtful design and high quality materials
b) foster designs that have continuity with the design traditions of Upstate New York and
the Town of Danby.
c) foster the preservation and enhancement of significant views and characteristics of the
natural landscape including important topographic, watercourse and view features.
d) promote and enhance the interconnection of on-site pedestrian walkways with existing
or future off-site pedestrian ways.
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e) encourage opportunities to allow pedestrian accessibility to areas with strong natural
features such as meadows, wooded areas, wetlands and watercourses, by the attainment
of public rights-of-way for public access.
f) promote pedestrian connections between adjacent commercial properties.
g) seek visual and design coordination on contiguous parcels which can be viewed from
public rights-of-way.
h) screen dumpsters, loading docks, and parking areas from the public right-of-way and
adjacent residential uses
2. BUILDING PLACEMENT
Buildings should be placed on the site in considered, contextual, relationships with nearby
buildings, especially in the Danby and West Danby hamlets. Alignment of the front facade with
the traditional built forms of hamlets and small villages in Upstate New York is strongly
encouraged along all road frontages. For gas
stations or convenience stores with fuel
sales, vehicle fuel sales areas (pump islands,
canopies) should be to the side or rear of the
retail structure as illustrated in the graphic
to the right.
3. BUILDING DESIGN
Building design should take context into
consideration and draw on nearby properties
and the design traditions of Upstate New
York and the Town of Danby. The Board
and the Town Planner will review the
proposed building(s) and site drawings and
request designs that relate to the above
referenced design traditions. Such
considerations shall include, but not be
limited to, the following:
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a) Massing.
Buildings that are
larger than the
traditional scale of
the Town of Danby,
in general larger than
a footprint of 1,500
square feet, should
be designed as a
series of smaller
masses or design
components.
b) Materials. The Town has a preference for the use of traditional cladding patterns such
as clapboard, shingle, and board and batten. Stone, masonry block, brick, metal, and
modern stucco (EIFS) may be appropriate in limited applications. The use of split face
concrete masonry units is discouraged.
c) Windows. Walls facing the public road should have window area of at least 15% of the
facade. Windows should be real, functional (fixed or operable) clear glass windows with
clear views into the building or an internally lit display area. Windows for commercial
uses should be arranged and grouped between two feet and 10 feet above the finished
exterior grade. The use of simulated windows, spandrel glass, or reflective glass is
strongly discouraged.
d) Entrances. Building
entrances should be clearly
defined, in scale with the
building facade, relate to the
public road and have
weather cover. At larger
commercial buildings, the
Board may request that
individual commercial
tenants have separate
entrances.
e) Screening of Equipment
and Refuse. Rooftop
equipment screening shall
appear to be integral with the building design. Parapet walls or sloped roof forms, integral
to the design of the building, are preferred. Other equipment located at grade, such as
compactors, dumpsters, HVAC equipment, electrical transformers and switchgear,
propane tanks, and the like, located on site shall be screened from public roads and
adjacent residential uses in a manner approved by the Board. Screening materials and
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design should be attractive and compatible with the building and overall landscape
designs.
f) Canopies. Drive through or drive under canopies, typically associated with vehicle fuel
sales (gas stations), should draw on the design traditions of Upstate New York and the
Town of Danby. Canopies should have a pitched roof. Canopy supports should be
visually proportional to the bulk and mass of the roof structure.
g) Exterior Building Lighting. Exterior building lighting should be similar in color to the
color of site lighting. All building mounted exterior light fixtures should be shown on
building elevations. All building mounted lighting and site lighting should be shielded
from adjoining residential properties and public rights of way. Wall mounted lighting on
facades that are visible from public right of ways shall utilize lighting fixtures that light
down only. Fixtures that can cause night glare to off site locations should be avoided.
4. SITE DESIGN
a) Parking. Parking areas shall comply with Section 706. Surface parking should be
located on the side or rear of the building.
b) Site circulation.
Vehicle circulation and maneuvering on site should:
Provide safe ingress and egress from public roads
Limit driveway width to
24’ wide for two way traffic
12’ wide for one way traffic
Avoid unnecessary pedestrian/vehicle conflict points
Pedestrian circulation should:
Include clear walkways through parking areas
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Include paved, hard surfaced, sidewalks or pads near the main entrance
and along the building
Include connections to existing or future public or semi-public trails or
sidewalks.
c) Landscaping. Landscaping should enhance the site and screen undesirable features
from view. Landscaping should be used to enhance the principal building, but not screen
it. The expectation is the new building will be an attractive addition to the community,
not something unsightly in need of screening. Constructed berms are not appropriate in
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all areas and should be considered carefully. Where berms are proposed, they should
avoid an unnatural and contrived appearance. Drainage ponds and swales should have
natural forms and avoid straight edges. Formal
plantings of upright trees that draw on traditional
orchard plantings, are encouraged in certain
applications, such as parking screening and along
road frontages. Fencing and landscaping walls
should draw on design traditions of Upstate New
York and the Town of Danby. Except for areas
needing to be secured or areas far back from the
public road, chain link fencing is
generally discouraged.
d) Natural Features. Important
natural characteristics or site
features should be preserved and
enhanced. Important features may
include, but are not limited to
trees and vegetation, topography,
watercourses and views.
e) Site Lighting. Site and parking lot light poles should not exceed 18 feet above
surrounding grade. Light fixtures should be shielded to direct light downward and
contained within the site. Light glare should not extend beyond the property line.
5. SIGNAGE
a) Signage shall comply with the relevant sections of the Zoning Ordinance.
b) Ground mounted signs should be limited to no taller than six feet above finished grade.
Taller pole mounted signs may be appropriate if they are externally lit with spotlights and
not internally lit.
c) Building mounted cabinet or box signs are discouraged. Channel letter, halo lit letters,
or externally lit (spotlight or “gooseneck” lighting) signage is encouraged.
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d) Digital signs with changing, flashing, or movable text or graphics is strongly
discouraged except in very limited circumstances, such as price signs for vehicle fuel
sales (gas stations).
6. APPLICANT SUBMISSION INFORMATION
In addition to the standard information required for the Site Plan Review process in Sections 801
through 806, the Planning Board expects that the following will be provided for its review and
consideration.
a) Drawings, graphics, and narrative text demonstrating how the proposed project follows
these guidelines including:
instrument survey map of the property
first floor plan showing locations of doors and windows
building elevations with materials identified and window area calculations
completed (per #3c above)
general site plan
utility plan showing electrical, water, sewer connections, location of well and
septic, solar or wind energy installations, general drainage
landscaping plan with materials identified.
The Board may request a site profile incorporating a key building profile, an additional 3-D
rendition, or even a mass model, if necessary, to fully understand the three dimensional
characteristics of proposed buildings.
7. TERMINOLOGY
For the purposes of this Appendix, the following shall serve to clarify the meaning of special
terminology included in this text:
Design tradition: Upstate New York, the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier Regions, and the Town
of Danby have a traditional built form constructed between approximately 1790 and 1950.
Structures built between 1790 and 1950 were built at a human scale and exhibit a traditional
relationship to the land, to public roads, and to each other. These structures used traditional
materials such as wood, stone, and brick. Less frequently, particularly in rural areas, these
structures used cast iron, cementitious stucco and corrugated metal.
Structures built after 1950 were often oriented to vehicles and built at a vehicular scale and used
standardized national or international design models and modern or ersatz materials, forms, and
finishes.
Newly constructed buildings can draw on the design traditions from the 1790 to 1950 period
while utilizing appropriate currently available materials and contemporary design.
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